Little Falls transcript., 1887-03-11
An HEROI DUDE.

AN HEROlC lCSOLDIERDUDE. /
How Br.,e ..Iittle Dasdy' Di.d sort ii. rag.
MY. journal.
& Little Dandy the boys called him.
He Joined our company at Vicksburg
just before the siege, and none Of Us
telt enough interest in him to make /
any inquiries, says the Atlanta Con- /
stitution. His extreme youth-he |
was about sixteen would have excit- |
d our sympathy under other circum- /
stances, but the warworn veterans In |
the trenches had no use for the curled I
darllngs OF the. parlor, and .Little +
Dandys" appearance was against
him.
The lad wore the gray uniform Of q (
private, but it wAs of the very finest {
material, finer than anything worn by /
our Generals. His buttons had an |
unsoldierly glitter. He sported white
handkerchiefs, carried q pocket mir.
ror, and every morning he combed
and curled his golden locks until they
looked like girl's 8 tresses. y a I
"Hello, Little Dandyv'o yelled the
soldiers whenever the young fellow
passed them.
To the rough salutation he always
responded with, q bow and smile,
but his soft ways did not win favor.
When we met him in town we passed
him by without notice, and in camp
we let him alone. Little Dandy was
proud after a fashion, too proud to no.
tice the many Sights heaped upon
him. He went through the routine
duties without complaint, but nothing
could induce him to abandon his pock- I
ct mirror and his fancy toilets.
The siege w8s we'll under way, and
we were no better acquainted with
Little Dandy than at first. He shar-
ed our meals OF mou]dy corn bread
and mule meat without murmur,
and it must be admitted that this
somewhat raised him in our estima-
tion. But we still had to learn what
a true heart beat behind those glitter
ing buttons. !
An angle OF the enemy's works was
dangerously close to our entrench-
ments, and we had to keep our heads
we'll sheltered. When we raised a hat
on the muzzle OF a musket it was in
variably riddled with bullets. One
morning we found our men being pick
ed up by an unseen sharpshooter at
the rate of five Or six an hour. This
astonished us, because We were all
keeping under cover, and the men who
were killed all occupied well-protected
positions.
Where was the sharpshooter? This
was the uppermost question in every
mind. We were not long in satisfying
ourselves on this point. just outside
the angie of the Federal works stood
giant oak, whose leafy top afforded
an admirable covert for rifeman. A
vigilant scrutiny convinced us that
the man who was doing such deadly
work in our ranks was concealed in
this tree. To reach it lie must have
made his way there during the night
and he would have to remain there all
day.
But we conld not stand it even one
day. His aim was SO unerring that
every time his rife cracked Confeder-
ate bit the dust. We tried rattling
discharge OF musketry, but a moment
later the reports of the rifle lang out
AID another of our comrades fell.
It was evident that from our posi-
tion it was almost impossible to hit
the Federal rifeman. If we succeed
ed in bringing him down it would be
by some lucky random shot. Posi-
bly, man outside the works would be
able to draw g. bead on our wary foe
man, but he would be under the guns
OF the enemy. and there would be a
thousand chances against him.
"Pll kill him or die!" cried a shrill
voice.
"Good God! It's little dandyv
shouted dozen men.
At the risk OF our lives we peeped
over our breastworks.
Little Dandy had already made his
way to the open space between the
works, and was edging around the
right of the tree. The Federals saw
what he was up to, and fired a broad
side. When the smoke cleared away
and they saw tile boy, with q flushed
face and streaming hair, aiming his
gun at the top Of the old oak, there
was a tremendous cheer It rolled
along both lines, the hoarse Federal
shout mingled with the wild "rebe)
yell.'
Bang!
A man in blue came tumbling and
crashing through the tree and struck
the ground with dull thud.
1t was the sharpshoorer!
Another cheer rent the air, but this
time it came from the Confederates
alone. A sheet Of fame blazed along
the Federal works, bat when the
smoke lifted we saw Little Dandy
coming full till in that direction with
a smile on his face.
"Three cheers for Little Dandy"
leaped from hundreds OF throats, as
he vaulted over the breastworks, and
we rushed upon him to hug him IN our
frenzy OF admiration and Joy. But
Little Dandy sank down on q heap OF
loose dirt, and then we saw the Grim
son stain ON his breast.
II kept my promise" he painted.
And then as our colonel took his hand
the little chap looked into his face and
said:
"I'm afraid I've made a poor SOL
| dier. Sometimes I've bothered you, l
know. But ] always wanted to help
you. Please remember that I was
| not very strong, and-and, I did the
best ! could"
His head fell over. Poor Little Dali
dy was dead!
|